Debut author Sophie Morris has won the Kerrygold Listowel Food Fair Book of the Year award.
The award highlights food writing that focuses on the purity and taste of natural Irish produce.
It is run in conjunction with the Listowel Food Fair, which begins today and continues until Sunday.
Ms Morris (28) won the award for Sophie Kooks: Quick and Easy Feelgood Food. With Graham Clarke she started the Kooky Dough food company in her kitchen nearly three years ago. They began their business by selling the produce at farmers’ markets in Dublin.
They were famously turned down by the judges on Dragons’ Den last year and went on to sign a €550,000 deal with Tesco.
Kooky Dough products are now stocked by retailers in Ireland, the UK, France and the United Arab Emirates.
Ms Morris said she was thrilled to win the award as it gave her a chance to share the recipes with a wider audience.
“I hope that the award will encourage more people to get into the kitchen and start cooking,” she said.
The award, sponsored by the Irish Dairy Board, includes a trip to Chicago to meet Kerrygold’s marketing team. The Irish butter is the best-selling imported butter in the United States.
Irish Dairy Board chief executive Kevin Lane said the standard of food books this year was exceptionally high “but what set Sophie’s book apart was how much it encourages the reader to get into the kitchen and try out her recipes”.
